 James Beard Foundation Award winners Dan Barber and Jean-Georges Vongerichten toast their success after winning awards at the annual awards dinner- AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams
We’re happy to spread the word about Dan Barber, a pioneer of the so-called farm-to-table restaurant movement. Dan was named the nation’s top chef Monday by the James Beard Foundation in a ceremony co-hosted by Stanley Tucci. (Tucci will be here with Howard Zinn and others on May 13.) Barber’s famed three-star restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, is located on the 80-acre Rockefeller estate in Westchester County, on an organic sustainable farm. The AP reports: Dan Barber was lauded for using his New York restaurants — Blue Hill New York and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills — to highlight the difference seasonal and sustainable agriculture can make on the plate.
Barber sees his cooking — which he calls American seasonal — as an effort to raise awareness about everyday food choices. At Stone Barns, which is set on a working farm, the menu is a simple list of fresh ingredients.
Watch a video profile of Blue Hill restaurant in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village featuring executive chef/co-owner Dan Barber who discusses the restaurant’s understated and elegant atmosphere, its “intensely” seasonal menu and his focus on sourcing fresh ingredients from farms in New York’s Hudson Valley. And here’s more video of Barber with Michael Pollan and Joan Dye Gussow at the Y food talk “Hedonistic, Healthy And Green.”
For those looking for special treat, on May 31 you can join us in an exclusive visit to Dan Barber’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Those attending will enjoy a fantastic meal with exceptional atmosphere, and learn how food is prepared using the resources of Stone Barns and other area farms. Afterward, we’ll walk the fields of homegrown crops, meeting the farmers and livestock along the way who work the fields.
At the 92nd Street Y we try to make an effort to support sustainable agriculture in a variety of ways, and are now participating in our first CSA. Organic produce for the 92nd Street Y CSA is grown at Stoneledge Farm in the foothills of the Northern Catskills and will be available from June to November for CSA members.
Speaking of local and sustainable food, Gary Hirshberg, the CEO and president of Stonyfield Farm, will be here tomorrow evening with Daniel Goleman for a talk entitled, Understanding the Green Revolution.
[Food Outings at 92Y]
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